SuperTed and the Video Game
by Bobby South
Summary: Where has Tex and his gang been for a while? Where have a hundred missing children gone to? Find out with SuperTed and Spotty in the show's first ever mini-series!
1. Part One

_On this hot, yet quiet summer's day, an ordinary teddy bear and his extraordinary friend are resting at their tree house._

SuperTed and Spottyman were sitting at their summer table on their tree house deck, drinking lemonade.

"This is the life, SuperTed!" sighed Spotty.

"Yes, Spotty," smiled SuperTed. "Although it _has_ been rather quiet without Texas Pete and his friends lately. And there seems to be no trouble for quite a while. But still we need breaks like this for once in a while for our own health and good." Then the alarm wailed. "Even breaks like this must come to an end for our own good too."  
>The teddy bear ran to the computer and turned the video monitor on. It was a heap of people screaming.<p>

"SuperTed, our children have been gone missing for a week," said a woman.

"My boys have been missing since they went to the Grapes store in New York," said a man.

"Save my children, SuperTed!" a lot of people would say before the screen turned off.

"What's going on, SuperTed?" asked Spotty, who had just come up.

"Something's going on at the Grapes store in New York and lots of children have been missing," replied SuperTed.

"I thought children hate grapes and all fruit and vegetables," said Spotty.

"No, Grapes Industries is like a factory that makes video games," SuperTed told him.

"Oh, I hate video games!" moaned Spotty. "And Grapes."

"All the same, we'd better get over there," SuperTed said.

Spotty put on his rocket-pack and SuperTed said his magic word, ripped off his skin and gained his scarlet suit. Together the two friends flew off to New York.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, in New York City...<em>

The angry mob was outside shouting and screaming outside the Grapes Industries building, which was a big skyscraper. Some people had signs saying things like 'Give us back our kids!' and 'Stop the Video Games!"

SuperTed and Spotty arrived at the gate of the building. "People, please calm down!" the super bear cried over the crowd, which they did. "So what's going on?"

"Well, all the children in this big city have gone," said the Mayor of New York, walking to the heroic duo. "All the parents know is that the last time they saw their kids was when they were going to buy the new video game _Past and Future_ and we have not seen them ever since. We come to an estimate of a hundred kids missing. We dare not go in that building just in case danger waits. That's why we brought you and your friend to see to it."  
>"And that's what we're here for," smiled SuperTed. "Isn't that right, Spotty?"<p>

"Well..."

"Come on, Spotty." And the brave duo flew over the gate and landed at the door.

"Hello!" yelled SuperTed. "This is SuperTed. Open this door at once!" There was a long wait. Nothing happened.

"Try opening it," suggested Spotty. SuperTed used all his strength to throw a punch to the big locked-up door. And it worked! They all walked in.

* * *

><p>"Oh, we've searched all forty seven floors, SuperTed, and we haven't found anyone yet," moaned the spotted alien.<p>

"But everything appears to be clean and dusted," SuperTed said, as he looked around. "Everything is put away and shut tightly. Knives and forks in the drawers. Mops, brushes, buckets in the cupboards. They can't do this all by themselves, you know?"  
>"Can't they?" asked Spotty.<p>

SuperTed rolled his eyes. He then looked ahead. "Look, there's the Chairman's office. Let's go!"

SuperTed and Spotty walked to the office. The heroic bear knocked on the door. It didn't open and there was no sound at all. SuperTed pushed the door opened and in they walked. It was the biggest room of the building. It covered the whole floor. It had a desk at the far end and a big table in the middle of the room with lots of chairs.

"Do they have their lunch here?" asked Spotty.

"No, Spotty," said SuperTed, searching the desk. "That's for board meetings."  
>"But I thought they work here, not go to school," thought a confused Spotty.<p>

"No, not _that_ type of board," chuckled SuperTed. "They have board meetings so the company can check on the progress they've been making." He finished searching the desk and found absolutely nothing at all.

"Well, that _does_ sound boring," said Spotty. "I'm pretty bored myself."

"I know we've made no progress of all, but we mustn't give up on finding the missing children," SuperTed told his alien friend. He looked ahead and saw it wasn't just the children that were missing now. "Spotty! Where are you? Spotty!"

He looked around the room, but couldn't find his alien friend. Then he saw in a tiny room and it had a blue rocket-pack in there. SuperTed ran in and picked it up. Then the door shut behind him. The heroic bear looked around and saw nothing but white walls and a giant computer screen.

"Well done, SuperTed," said a spooky computerized voice. "You worked out how your alien friend and the missing children have disappeared."

"Who are you?" asked SuperTed.

"I am the Grapes Computer," said the voice. "Now, as a reward, why don't you check out my new game?"

"Wait! Who is your creator?" shouted SuperTed.

"You can meet him in the game," said the Computer. Then the screen shot up in light blue and light-blueness shot out! SuperTed screamed and tried to fly away, but the lights took over him.

* * *

><p>SuperTed was lying on the ground. He groaned and picked himself up. The lightness became clear and he found himself on a rocky ground near a volcano. "Where am I?" he asked. "Where's Spotty? I must find him." He tried to fly, but he couldn't. He saw he wasn't in his scarlet suit. And if things weren't hard enough, no matter how times he said his secret magic word, it just didn't work.<p>

"I don't know what to do now," the hopeless teddy bear moaned. Then something shook the ground. He looked around and found nothing but a large Tyrannosaur Rex! "Now I do: Run!" And that's what he did.

* * *

><p>SuperTed kept running as fast and as far as he could. He kept running until he came to a dead end. He was blocked off by a big mountain. He tried to run back, but he couldn't, because the Rex had him completely trapped. The giant lizard beast went for him, but when it closed his mouth and opened its eyes, it saw there was no teddy bear in sight. It decided to move on. It had no idea there was a large crack in the mountain and, on the other side, stood an ordinary teddy bear, who was not alone.<p>

"Thank you very much," said SuperTed. He turned around to see who save him, but soon he wished he didn't know.

"No problem," smiled Texas Pete who was in his original cowboy's clothes. Behind him was Bulk and Skeleton, dressed as cavemen.

"Why did you save me?" SuperTed demanded to know.

"Because I'd rather be stuck in prison than be stuck in this horrible video game," Tex confessed. "If anyone can get everyone out of here, it's you! And if you do, I promise I'll be a changed person."

"Well, you'll have to help me find missing children because I'm not leaving this game until each and every single one of them is found," said SuperTed. "Understand?"  
>"I understand and agree," said Tex, putting his hand out. After hesitation, SuperTed shook his paw with Tex's hand.<p>

"All right, the sooner we find the kids, the sooner we can get out," said Tex. "Then he turned to his friends. " Come on, you two! Let's get out of here."

"Oh, great!" exclaimed Bulk happily.

"I'm not going out there!" protested Skeleton. "It's dangerous and dusty out there."

"Fine, lazy bones, stay here and get chewed on by dinosaurs," said Tex meanly.

"I'd like to see that," said Skeleton. Then he heard a large dinosaur roar! "Oh, wait for me, I'm coming!"

* * *

><p>SuperTed, Tex and his gang was running like the wind.<br>"Spotty! Where are you?" cried SuperTed.

"SuperTed! Up here!" cried Spotty's voice.

The teddy bear looked up to see Spotty waving to him on top of the mountains.

"I can't come down!" cried Spotty. "I don't have my rocket pack!"

Skeleton looked at the mountains. "I can't climb up there!"

"Yeah, it doesn't look safe, Tex," agreed Bulk, looking up.

"Do you want to be eaten by the dinosaurs or not?" snapped Tex. "Because I don't." And he started climbing.

"Wait, Tex!" cried SuperTed. "There must be another way." Then he saw a game icon that looked like his scarlet suit nearby. He went to it and through it. He was now in his suit and he flew up, picking up Bulk and Skeleton and Tex who fell from failing to climb the tough mountains!

"SuperTed!" cried Spotty, who was wearing a caveman's spotted clothes. "What do you think? I made it myself." He turned to see Tex, Bulk and Skeleton standing next to his best friend. "What are they doing here?"

"Long story, Spotty," said SuperTed. "But we must find the children."

"What, these children?" asked Spotty. Everyone saw behind Spotty was ten kids.

"Good work, Spotty," said SuperTed. "Only ninety children left to find."

Then a loud screech came in the air. Everyone turned to see a pterodactyl flying towards them!

"What do we do?" cried Spotty.

"We must find the jewel to open this portal to get to the next level," explained one ginger-haired boy with glasses.

All Spotty could see was a golden frame that looked like a door frame. "How can we get through that door frame?" asked Spotty. "It doesn't even have a door."

"That's not a door frame, Spotty," SuperTed told him. "That's the portal. The magic teleport that will get us out of this dinosaur level. If we can find the jewel, that is."

"A jewel like this?" asked Skeleton as he pulled out a white jewel out of his body.

"That's it!" exclaimed one of the kids. "Give it here."

"No!" snapped Skeleton.

"Please," a shy girl with blond hair begged.

"No, this goes well with my body," Skeleton told everyone.

"Maybe that's why the pterodactyl is coming after you and your bones," said SuperTed.

Skeleton gasped. "Take it! Take it!"

A rough-looking boy quickly snatched it off the skeleton and put it in the diamond-shape hole for the portal frames. In the middle of the frame a light blue flash came.

"Come on, fellas, let's go!" shouted Tex, running through the portal. All the other kids followed.

"What's on the other side, SuperTed?" asked Spotty.

"I don't know, Spotty, but I'm sure it'll be safer on the next level," said SuperTed. "Come on." SuperTed pulled Spotty behind him through the portal.

* * *

><p>When they stopped, they saw there was no portal behind or in front of them. "We're on level two," said SuperTed.<p>

"Looks like we're in Ancient Egypt," said Spotty. And that's where they were. They were outside an old Egyptian forgotten temple.

"Why aren't you wearing your suit, SuperTed?" asked Spotty.

"It's how the game works," SuperTed told him. "I need to find those scarlet suit game icons to get it. Where are the children?"

"Where's Tex, Bulk and Skull?" asked Spotty.

"Probably in that temple," SuperTed pointed out. "Let's go." And in they went.

The temple was dark, dusty and dangerous-looking. SuperTed and Spotty took every step very carefully.

"Be careful, Spotty," SuperTed told his best friend. "Don't touch anything." Then SuperTed saw that he wasn't there. "Spotty? Where are you?"

Then he came across with three mummies. "Tex, is that you?" The lead mummy came closer to him.

"I thought we had a deal!" the teddy bear snapped. "Or did you just use me to get you out of that level so you could do all the levels and get out of the game just for yourself?"  
>All he got was picked up by the lead mummy.<p>

Later, he was thrown into the dungeon. "Popping potatoes! What's next?"

"SuperTed!"

SuperTed turned around to see Spotty, the ten children from the previous level and ten more children next to him.

"Spotty!" cried SuperTed.

"What are you doing here?" asked Spotty. "Where are Tex, Bulk and Skeleton?"

"They betrayed us," answered the depressed bear.

"We're not on trays," said Spotty."

"They were stuck on the first level so they used us to get out of it so they could continue to get out of the game... without us," sighed SuperTed.

"There's got to be something you can do, SuperTed," said one of the children.

"Yeah, come on, SuperTed!" said another.

"Do something, SuperTed!" shouted a tough kid.

All the children were shouting and pleading to SuperTed.

"I don't know!" snapped SuperTed. "I just don't know."

Everyone went quiet.

_Can SuperTed and Spottyman get out of the dungeon and out of the game? Where had Texas Pete and his friends gone to? Find in Part Two._

* * *

><p>To Be Continued...<p> 


	2. Part Two

_Something mysterious has happened. Texas Pete and his friends haven't been heard for a long while. A hundred kids have disappeared. SuperTed and Spotty have been sent to investigate but, when they found out what was going on, they've been sent into the game and are now stuck in it._

"I can't believe I didn't seem this coming, Spotty," moaned SuperTed.

"Oh, don't give up now, SuperTed," said Spotty. "We'll come up with something."

"SuperTed!" cried one of the kids. "The ground."

SuperTed looked down to the ground and saw the bricks were falling down.

"What can we do?" spluttered Spotty. "I-I-I don't have my rock-rocket pack."

"And I can't say my magic word," said SuperTed. "It doesn't work on this game."

The last brick fell down and it hit something or rather someone. "Watch it, Bulk!" snapped Tex's voice.

"Sorry, Tex," said the voice of Bulk.

Then Texas Pete's head popped up.

"Come on, we haven't got much time," Tex said. He, Bulk and Skeleton went down through the tunnel, followed by the kids with SuperTed and Spotty following.

* * *

><p>Later the group came up to the surface. They were inside a dark treasure room, filled with diamonds – large and small – and large torches.<p>

"We need to find the right gem to get us out of this temple," SuperTed said.

"But just how do we know what _is_ the right gem?" asked Spotty.

"How about looking on that wall over there?" suggested the heroic teddy bear.

They walked to the wall and saw a diamond mould on it.

"Everyone!" shouted SuperTed to the crowd. "Spread out and find a diamond that can fit in that diamond slot."

Everyone spread around and found lots of diamonds, but none of them fitted in the mould.

Spotty was searching through the pile of little diamonds, but he couldn't find any, so he got up and walked back to the main group. But then he slipped on a little diamond and fell off the edge!

"Help, SuperTed!" cried the spotted alien.

"Spotty!" SuperTed ran to see his best friend fall down into darkness. "Spotty! Can you hear me? Spotty!"

There was a long, silent pause as everyone gathered around him. There was nothing anyone could do. There was no red cape icon for SuperTed to get into, there was no rope or anything long like that and Skeleton didn't have enough bones to reach Spotty, even if they could see him. Everyone was about to give up when they heard rocket-pack noises shooting up.

They saw Spottyman, with his rocket-pack on, flying towards the gang.

"Spotty!" cried SuperTed happily. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" scoffed Spotty. "I'm feeling great because I found this." He revealed in his hand a light blue crystal – the one that fits in the slot.

"Trespassers!" shouted a spooky voice. "Trespassers in the treasure room! The sentence for trespassing is this!"

Then the whole room shook and wobbled.

"Quick! Get that diamond in the slot!" ordered Tex.

The wobbling caused Spotty to drop on the ground and dropped the diamond, but SuperTed quickly caught it. He ran as fast as he could to get the diamond in the slot. The steps was breaking and the bricks were falling one by one. The group was trying to get to the slot themselves, but it was tricky and they were struggling to stay on the falling steps.

SuperTed finally put the diamond in and the slot withdrew and revealed the portal doorway to the next level. Everyone managed to get through to the portal before the room collapsed.

* * *

><p>The group was on the next level, but there was no time for a breather. They were out on an empty wasteland and there was a big army coming towards them.<p>

"Run!" shouted SuperTed. And everyone ran.

"SuperTed, where are we?" asked Spotty. "I would find out if only I had my rocket-pack."

"My guess is we are somewhere in a wasteland in Russia," SuperTed said.

"But I can't see any rubbish bags," panted Spotty.

"No, Spotty, we're in a part of Russia where there are no towns, no forests and nothing, except rocks," the teddy bear explained. "And I'm guessing that the army is under the leadership of no other than – " He turned around to see the first rider in front of the army and it was – "Genghis Khan!" And he was right.

"Boy, I can't keep running like this," panted Skeleton. "My bones are aching."

"Yeah, I don't think I can keep up with this, Tex", panted Bulk.

"Look, those kids are running much faster than you two grown men put together!" snapped Tex. "You guys need to do more exercise!"

SuperTed looked ahead. "Look! There's a village with a gate in there! Let's hide in there!"

When everyone caught their breath at the gate, SuperTed looked up. "Help!" he cried. "Help! We are not friends of Genghis Khan; we are being chased by him!"

The gates opened and everyone ran into the dusty city. The buildings were made out of woods that looked completely deserted. The gates closed behind them.

"Come on!" shouted the Captain of the Guards. "Everyone to the shelter!"

Everyone went down some steps that went to underground. The gang saw that the underground shelter was as big as a Romans Bath, with about a lot of village soldiers and ten more children, who were delighted to meet SuperTed.

"What do we do now, SuperTed?" asked Spotty.

"I don't know, Spotty," said SuperTed. Then he turned to the Captain of the Guards. "Captain, do you have a plan?"

"Well, the best plan we could come up with is either to let Genghis Khan past or, if he finds us, fight him," the Captain answered.

"I'm up for fighting him!" exclaimed Tex, as he drew out his guns.

SuperTed looked around the room and thought. "Genghis Khan will not pass. He will discover us. We need to get out, but we can't go out on the surface."

"Seems like we're stuck here, aren't we, Bulk?" Skeleton said.

"Yeah," agreed Bulk, as he put his big arms on the wall. He fell down and that made a big hole!

"Well done, Bulk!" smiled Tex. "You've done it again!" Then he put the guns back and turned to the rest of the crowd. "Listen, everyone. I need volunteers to dig a trench."

SuperTed, Spotty, Tex, Bulk, about a dozen twelve strong kids grabbed the spades and started digging.

"I think I'll just be on guard duty," said Skeleton. "Just check wherever the bad guys are coming or not." But he was pulled to the trench and given a spade by Tex.

"If we get to the waterfall, which is about five miles away, we could hide behind there and Genghis Khan will never find us," the Captain told SuperTed.

"Maybe that will also be the portal to the next level," SuperTed pointed out.

SuperTed and the diggers were working very hard and very fast as they could. They dug nearly five miles for nearly an hour.

"These tunnels are really easy to dig," panted Spotty.

"That's because in the game it's easier than in the real world," pointed out one of the kids. "That's why we spend a lot of time on the games to forget all the problems in the world and not worry about them."

"Well, worry about this one," cried the Captain. "Genghis Khan has found us!"

"Fast as we can now!" shouted SuperTed, as he and everyone dug as fast as they could.

It took no more than fifteen seconds to knock the door of the shelter down. Genghis pushed through his army and saw the room was empty and the long trench the guys have done.

"CHARGE!" he ordered. The rough and tough soldiers charge through the tunnel until they reached the end. They came out of the tunnel at the end. They were in a forest with green trees, green brushes and a giant waterfall.

"Spread out! Search everywhere!" Genghis ordered. The soldiers spread out.

* * *

><p>The soldiers searched high and low and close and far with no results. By nightfall, Genghis ordered the soldiers to move onto the next village.<p>

Behind the waterfall, SuperTed and the group with the village soldiers and the villagers themselves have been hiding. They were very pleased.

"I suppose violence _doesn't_ solve anything at all," Tex admitted.

"And there are things that can be done without my magic word," SuperTed smiled.

"Or my cosmic dust!" Spotty joined in.

"But what about the other villages he'll conquer next?" asked Skeleton.

"Because you've helped us from him, we can now help the other villages from him," the Captain told him. "So, in other words, you saved every village from Genghis Khan."

"That's inaccurately true," thought SuperTed.

"Doesn't have to be in a video game," pointed out one of the video game nerds.

"Because of your selfless deed, here's the crystal for you to move on," smiled the Captain. He put it in the slot and the portal appeared. Everyone went through, as the villagers waved goodbye.

* * *

><p>Where everyone was no one would have expected. They were in a Roman stable where the horses were chewing on the hay.<p>

"Wow! A Roman stable!" exclaimed Tex. "Just look at those tall, strong critters!"

"What have horses to do with this level?" asked Spotty.

Then a big powerful man entered the stable. SuperTed recognized him. "It's Julius Caesar!" he cried. "Everyone, bow down before him!" Everyone did.

"Ah, good!" smiled Caesar. "Volunteers for the next chariot race! I'm afraid there are only two spaces left. Who shall I pick?"

Everyone put their hands up, because they wanted to be picked. The three exceptions were Bulk, Skeleton and Spotty, who were nervous or didn't have a clue. Caesar turned to them. "Three shy men who are scared to ride horses. Let me see." He looked at Skeleton. "You're too skinny. You don't have the strength to hold the reins of the horses." As insulting as it was, Skeleton was actually relived and happy that he didn't get chosen.

Then Caesar turned to Bulk and Spotty. "Come on, you two. Let's get you out of your shells."

"But I don't have a shell," said Spotty.

"But I haven't stolen any shells for a while," Bulk said.

"Then you have nothing to be worried about," smiled Caesar. "Come on."  
>Spotty and Bulk looked at SuperTed. "Go ahead, Spotty and Bulk," he said to them. "You two will be all right."<p>

* * *

><p>Soon SuperTed and the group were seated in the Circus Maximus with a lot of Roman citizens. They saw Spotty and Bulk each in a chariot cart. They were in a line with ten other chariot racers.<p>

"Are you ready?" cried Caesar. "On your marks! Get set! Go!"

And they were off! Bulk and Spotty were struggling behind the other ten racers. The horses were moving, but they never been anywhere near horses so they don't know the first thing about horses.

"Come on, Spotty!" cried SuperTed, rising from his seat. "Use the reins to tell the horse to go faster!"

"But it's not raining!" Spotty cried back.

"No! The rope things between the horses and your cart!" his best friend told him. "Lift them up and down!"

"Bulk, do the same!" Tex ordered.

They did their best to whack the reins and the horses were picked up their speed. But they still had a lot to do. They were ten laps behind.

But there was trouble with the other ten riders. One by one, the chariot carts have been falling down, until there were only three riders left – Spotty, Bulk and a tough strong man in a black and white chariot.

"Look!" one of the nerds shouted, pointing to the black and white cart. "He's got saws on his wheels! That's why the other riders have been falling out."

SuperTed got up and looked closer. The kid was right! The black and white cart _did_ have saws on the wheels and he saw the little levers on each side of the cart to operate the saws. Now he was heading for Spotty, who was on the side of the left wheel, and Bulk, who was on the side of the right wheel.

"Spotty! Bulk!" shouted SuperTed. "Behind you!"

Spotty and Bulk turned around. "Oh, hello," greeted Bulk. "Do you want to get past us?"

They slowed their horses down and the rider was about to get past.

"No!" cried SuperTed, as he and the group couldn't bear to look at what was happening.

The saws were getting closer to Spotty's cart and Bulk's cart. And closer... And closer...

* * *

><p>To Be Continued...<p> 


	3. Part Three

_SuperTed and his extraordinary have journeyed very far into this video game and have made progress like finding some of the missing kids and making a truce with their enemy, Texas Pete. But the journey is not over and they are still not safe from harm… _

The saws of the black and white cart were still getting closer to the wheels of Spotty's cart and Bulk's cart. SuperTed and the gang were still covering their eyes. They couldn't bear to see what could happen to their friends.

"Whoa!" screamed Spotty. "I'm losing balance! I can't control the horses!" His horses were moving towards the black and white cart's horses. The mean rider's horses screamed and halted. The rider bumped into the front of his cart and angrily saw Spotty and Bulk running away.

"Hey, guys, they're okay and still running!" pointed out one of the girls. Everyone was happy.

Then SuperTed got up and walked to where Caesar was sitting on his own balcony.

"Hail, Mighty Caesar!" greeted the teddy bear. "Can't you see this race isn't a race at all? My friends out there are in danger from that horrible rider!"

"The race must finish in one way or another," said Caesar. "Besides I haven't seen a race like this in years!"

With no games icons for either SuperTed or Spotty to get into, no way of interrupting the race and no way of helping his at all, the heroic teddy bear started worrying about his best friend.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Spotty and Bulk were doing very well. They were catching up so quickly that they had only one more lap to go. But the black and white cart rider was still angry and was charging for them. He chose Spotty first!<p>

"Spotty, look out!" cried SuperTed.

But it was too late. The left wheel's saw caught on Spotty's right wheel and began to saw it. "Oh, dear! Help!"

Then he saw his cart was jammed with the black and white cart. He saw the rider was now aiming for Bulk. This quickly gave the spotted alien an idea. He jumped on the black and white cart and then he jumped onto Bulk's cart and landed behind him.

"I'll take the reins, Bulk," said Spotty. "You whip them."

"Okay, Spotty," smiled Bulk.

They were working so well together. They were in the lead and the finish line was not far from them.

"Come on, Spotty!" cried SuperTed.

"Don't give up now, Bulk!" cried Skeleton.

Then all the kids rose up and cheered them on.

But the black and white cart rider still didn't give up. He was still coming for Spotty and Bulk. Spotty turned around to see the mean rider coming closer and closer. Then their cart hit something on the ground and something heavy hit Spotty's foot. He picked up and saw it was a heavy rock.

"What's a rock doing in your pocket?" the alien asked.

"Well, Tex told me to put it in my pocket so when we get out, we can give it to prehistory museums and become rich," Bulk replied.

Spotty turned to the mean rider who was seconds away. He looked at the rock.

"Hope Tex can forgive for this," he said as he threw the rock to the ground. The black and white cart's horses dodged the rock, but the cart itself hit the rock and it was flipped to the ground, sending the mean rider out and leaving him to roll out of the ground.

Spotty and Bulk were greeted with cheer and applause.

"I've never won anything," Spotty sighed happily. "Not even on the Planet Spot."

"I've never won anything in my life either," said Bulk, who was proud of himself too.

Everyone went down there to greet them. SuperTed gave his best friend a big hug and Skeleton gave Bulk one too. "That was brilliant, Bulk!" he said.

"Well done, Bulk!" smiled Tex, patting him on the shoulder. That was the first time Tex really felt Bulk had something special about him.

Later, some of the kids helped the horses to the stables. Caesar arrived and everyone bowed before them.

"For winning a race and with a lot of difficulty, I am honoured to present you this reward," Caesar smiled, giving a white diamond to SuperTed. "I know your quest isn't finished so goodbye and good luck." He turned and walked out.

SuperTed walked to the one stall which didn't have a horse in it. He looked at the right-hand post and saw a slot. He put it in and the light-blue portal showed. Everyone wasted no time to go through.

* * *

><p>The next level was in a green forest with sunshine. It was full of birds singing happily.<p>

"Well, this level doesn't seem so bad," thought Spotty.

Then the birds flew away and the animals went to hide in the trees or under them. The team heard hooves running. They turned to see a bunch knights on horses gathering around them.

"Halt!" shouted a loud voice. They saw a man with blonde hair and a blonde beard with a golden crown on his head getting off his white horse and walking to them.

"I am King Arthur of Camelot," the man said. "What are you doing here in my Kingdom?"

SuperTed bowed before him. "Well, Your Majesty, my name is SuperTed and my friends and I are looking for a diamond and its portal so we can be off your land."

King Arthur turned to an old man dresses in a green robes and a pointy green hat with white stars on. "What do you know about this, Merlin?" he asked.

"Well, Your Majesty, there is a legend about the diamond and the portal near Mount Snowdon," Merlin said, "but I don't know it's real and the mountain is now guarded by a fire-breathing dragon."

"Wow! A boss!" whispered one of the kids.

"Of course the dragon's a boss," Skeleton told her. "He's the boss of the mountain."

"I meant in video game terms," explained the kid.

"Well, if this will help these poor people," said the King, "we shall do it. Knights, let's head for the mountains."

"Come on, everyone," cried SuperTed to his friends. Then together everyone headed for the mountains.

* * *

><p>Soon they reached the mountain. Then SuperTed, King Arthur and the Knights studied it.<p>

"Is this the mountain?" asked SuperTed.

"According to Merlin, yes," replied the king.

"So how do we get the dragon out of there and grab the diamond?" thought SuperTed.

"I say we go in there, blow him out sky-high and we can find the diamond," suggested Tex, drawing out his guns.

"Tex, that's dangerous," SuperTed told him.

"Well, I've been in this video game too long!" snapped Tex. "I can't wait any more!" And he stormed off.

SuperTed sighed. "I'd better go after him. Spotty, make sure no one leaves this area."

"No problem, SuperTed," Spotty cried back.

* * *

><p>Tex found a large hole into the mountain. He began to walk in, when he heard more footsteps. He turned around to see SuperTed standing there.<p>

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I can't let you go in there alone," the teddy bear told him. "Besides, we had a deal, remember?"

The cowboy smiled. "All right. Let's blast this giant fireball lizard out!"

And in they went.

* * *

><p>After crawling through a long tunnel, they arrived at in a very deep part of the mountain.<p>

"Do you think we're in the middle of the mountain?" asked Tex.

"Must be," thought SuperTed. "But where's the dragon?"

He heard a big growl and turned around to see some giant eyes in darkness! Smoke was coming out of the darkness too.

"Tex, behind us!" cried SuperTed.

Tex turned around and gasped. They walked backwards, but as they did, guess was coming forward? The eyes and the smoke! Then they came out of the smoke came something green and tiny.

"Look, it's a baby dragon," laughed Tex. "What harm can a cute tiny critter like _that _do?"

The baby dragon flapped it wings and fire came out of its mouth. It blew the brunt hat of Tex's head off.

"That," replied SuperTed.

They ran from the dragon thst was chasing and breathing fire at them. Then it was trapped into a net. It landed on the floor. SuperTed and Tex turned around to see King Arthur and his knights along with Spotty, Bulk, Skeleton and the children standing next to the hole they crawled through.

"Thanks, guys," said SuperTed. "But, Spotty, I thought I told you – "

"All the children insisted they went over to the mountain to fight off the dragon, SuperTed," Spotty answered back. "I couldn't make them stay."

"Well, let's find this diamond and then you can continue your quest," said Merlin.

"Well, you heard him," said the King. "Spread out!" Then he turned to Bulk and Skeleton. "Would you two do the honours of making sure this dragon doesn't escape?"

Everyone searched the area from top to bottom, but they couldn't find the diamond.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skeleton were searching for the diamond too, but what they didn't know was the dragon was breathing its way out of the net. It escaped the net and flew around.

"The dragon's free!" cried one of the kids.

"You two brainless morons!" snapped Tex.

But the dragon flew upwards and landed on top of the highest rock. "I'm sorry if I scared you guys," it said in a deep male voice. "I was just playing with you guys."

"Do you know where the diamond is?" asked SuperTed.

"Yes, I do," replied the dragon. "Maybe we can work out a deal. If I give you the diamond, what would you give me?"

"I let you fly free in my kingdom if you promise not to attack anyone so no one will attack you," said King Arthur, "and we will give all the friends you can have, if that's what you really want."

The dragon thought about it and smiled. "Okay!" He flew into a dark hole and later came out, holding a diamond in his mouth. He spitted it out and it landed on the diamond slot on a rock. The portal opened and everyone wasted no time going through.

"Good luck!" cried King Arthur, as he, Merlin, the Knights and the dragon waved goodbye.

* * *

><p>Later, SuperTed and the team arrived in another forest. It was darker than the forest on the previous level and the sky was just as dark. There were no lights around.<p>

"Keep together, everyone!" ordered SuperTed. "We don't know what's out here."

"I do!" cried one of the kids from a fair distance. "I'm trapped in a net!"

They all turned around and saw a little girl trapped in a hanging net. SuperTed pushed through the team and went to free her, but he was stopped by an arrow that landed by his feet. He turned to see a man in green with a bow and a few arrows aiming at him.

"Oh, no," cried Spotty. "It's the green man!"

"No, Spotty, it's Robin Hood," SuperTed told him.

"And his merry men," Robin added. His merry man popped out of the nearest bushes and aimed their bows and arrows at the teddy bear's friends.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hood," said SuperTed. "We're sorry if we're trespassing on your forest and we would get off, if only we could find a special diamond."

Robin thought about what the teddy bear had told him and lowered his bow and arrow. He ordered his men to do so too. "Diamond, eh? Well, if it's in anywhere near Nottingham, it will be in the Sherriff's treasure room. We've just discovered that Prince John will be inspecting him tomorrow and that's when we will make a move. Help us rob him tomorrow and we will help you find your diamond. Deal?"

"Deal," smiled SuperTed, shaking his hand.

* * *

><p>Night time came and everyone was at Robin's hideout. They were around campfires and under bags full of straw, which was how Robin and his Merry Men slept in the woods.<p>

SuperTed was sitting on a giant rock by himself. He was offered a bowl of soup… by Tex!

"Thank you," he smiled, as he took the bowl.

Tex sat next to him. "You know, SuperTed, he said, "I've been thinking. Hanging around with you has taught me so much."

"Like what?" asked the teddy bear.

"Well, there are a few ways to solve problems without being bad," Tex replied. "Maybe violence never solves anything. And sometimes being good does help."

"Are you saying you're changing?" asked SuperTed.

"If I am, by the time we get out of this video game, will you let me and my friends go?" begged Tex. "I promise I will start and again and maybe even help you and Spotty."

"You mean, become our new partners?" SuperTed couldn't believe this. He felt that Tex was up to something, but he decided that, if Tex _was_ indeed tricking him, he would play along. "Well, keep this "goodness" up and we'll see at the end." He yawned. "I must be going to bed. Good night, Tex."

"Good night, SuperTed," smiled Tex, as SuperTed walked away.

* * *

><p>The morning arose in Nottingham.<p>

Inside the castle, the Sherriff in his treasury room was counting his money, when a guard entered.

"Sir, we spotted Robin Hood and his merry men outside the castle," the guard reported. "But they have twice many men now."

"Send out every soldier after them!" ordered the Sheriff.

"Yes, sir." The guard saluted and walked away.

No sooner had the guards left the castle than they were searching through the woods. They searched every inch of the forest, but they found nothing except themselves in hanging nets from the trees.

They saw the Merry Men coming out of the trees. "Got ya guys!" cried Little John. Then he turned to Tex. "You can join the rest of your team mates now."

Tex wasted no moment running to the castle. He didn't even noticed his friends, Bulk and Skeleton, were in a hanging net above him.

"Tex! Help us! Tex!" they cried together.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Robin led SuperTed, Spotty and the little kids to the castle. They checked that were no guards around. Then they jumped into the moat which was very shallow and they entered through the secret door.<p>

They were very cautious when they were walking through the corridors.

"Help! Help!" cried a voice.

"What's that?" asked Spotty.

"It could be one of the missing children, Spotty," said SuperTed. He looked around the corner. "Go and check it out, Spotty, then meet us at the treasury room."

They all left him to go around the corner. They approached the treasury room and entered it. They founded the piles of counted gold.

"Your diamond must be in these piles somewhere," Robin pointed out.

Everyone started searching through the piles of gold, when one girl looked at the door. "Look!" she cried. Everyone looked ahead to see the Sheriff standing at the door. He closed the door and it was locked.

Outside the Sheriff laughed his head off as he began to walk away. Then he fell over a few things. He had fallen over the scattered bones of Skeleton. When he stopped, Tex snatched the keys of him. He unlocked the treasury room.

"Boy, never ever thought _I_ would be glad to see you three," said SuperTed, as he saw Tex, Bulk and Skeleton standing there.

"Told you I'm a new man," smiled Tex.

"But, Tex, you wearing the same clothes," pointed out Bulk.

"Yeah, Tex, you've still got your body," Skeleton joined in. "And I know bodies because of my bones."

"Shut up, you two!" snapped Tex.

Everyone ran out of the treasury room. "The diamond's not in there and we couldn't find the slot for it even," SuperTed told Tex.  
>"We couldn't find it out here either," Skeleton said.<p>

Bulk thought. "Maybe Spotty has had better – "

"Spotty!" cried the brave teddy bear, as he started running around the corridors to look for his best friend. "Spotty! Spotty!"

"SuperTed!" cried Spotty's voice.

Everyone ran to the cells. They looked through every one, but there was nothing in each one. Then they came to a very big metal door. SuperTed and Tex used all their strength to open it. Everyone walked down the stairs of the deep-dark and gloomy room, which had nothing except Spotty and an African-American kid with glasses in chains.

"Spotty!" cried SuperTed happily. He tried to break his chain off. "I can't break it. And we couldn't find the diamond."  
>"Probably because this kid over here has it," replied Spotty. "I would've told you but the sheriff came down and chained me here too."<p>

"And I think he's come back down to do it again," the chained-up kid told him.

Everyone turned to see the Sheriff and his soldiers running down the stairs.

"Oh, no!" cried Skeleton.

"Where's the diamond?" SuperTed asked the kid.

"In the pocket of my pants." And it was! The fast teddy bear quickly found the slot for it on the wall. A light appeared through the wall, which was the portal for the next level.

"Right, fellas, let's go!" cried Tex, as he, Bulk and Skeleton and the children ran through the portal.

SuperTed tried to free Spotty and the kid, but, because he wasn't in his suit, he just couldn't break the chain. Spotty saw the Sheriff and the guards coming down the stairs and the portal closing.

"Go on without me, SuperTed!" cried Spotty. "I'll find a way out somehow."  
>"I can't do this without you, Spotty," said SuperTed. "Besides, I wouldn't become who I am if it wasn't for you." And he continued trying to free his best friend. Behind him, the Sheriff was coming closer and closer!<br>Then Spotty's chain was shot! So was the chained-up kid's chain. They looked to see Tex standing there with smoke coming out his guns.

"Well, come on!" Tex cried.

"Come on, Spotty!" SuperTed help Spotty up and they helped the kid up. They followed Tex through the portal.

* * *

><p>On the previous six levels, the gang could land on solid ground, but this one was wobbling up and the weather was pouring down roughly.<p>

"SuperTed, where are we?" cried Spotty.

Through the rough weather, SuperTed walked to an edge on the wooden thing everyone was on and saw waves beneath. "We're on a ship, Spotty!"  
>"And a pirate one, too!" pointed out one of the kids.<p>

They looked up and could just see that a Jolly Roger flag on the very top. When they looked down, they saw they were not the only ones on the ship. A bunch of pirates were standing in front of them, pointing swords at them. The Captain of the ship pushed through the bunch of pirates. He looked like what Texas Pete would have looked like if he was a pirate with one exception – a black beard.

"Oh, no!" cried Skeleton. "It's – It's – "

"Captain Bluebeard?" asked Bulk.

"Captain Blackbeard!" exclaimed SuperTed.

"Stowaways!" shouted Captain Blackbeard, as he inspected the stowaways. "Boys, you know what to do with Stowaways."

But SuperTed and his friends didn't. They gulped as the pirates came towards them, laughing evilly.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued…<p> 


	4. Part Four

_Every level SuperTed and his friends walk through, they have more success. More children are found and they are getting closer to the end of the game. Or maybe not…_

SuperTed, Spotty, Tex, Bulk, Skeleton and the children were locked behind bars down below the boat. They were next to some children who had been stuck on the level longer than the new arrivals had.

"…eighty-eight, eighty-nine…" counted Bulk. "Uh, one more!"

"That's ninety, you moron!" snapped Skeleton.

"Seven levels and ninety children!" cried SuperTed. "We're doing well."

"Are we?" asked Skeleton. "We're behind bars on the most terrifying pirate ship in history!"

"I agree," moaned Spotty. "Oh, I just wish it would end."

Then Blackbeard came down. He opened the cell where SuperTed and Spotty was. "Spottyman, come with me!" he ordered.

Spotty hesitated and looked at SuperTed.

"You'd better do what he says, Spotty," SuperTed sighed. Then he whispered to him. "Don't worry; I'll come up with something."

But he didn't know how. He looked around, but there was nothing he could do to break out and he was getting no more ideas.

"Hey, SuperTed!" cried one of the kids, looking out of the window. "I see Spotty!"

Bulk looked through the window. "Yeah, I see Spotty. The pirates are cheering him as he's walking on a strange wooden thing off the boat. He must be really brave."

Everyone else gasped. "Spotty's walking the plank!" cried SuperTed. "I've got to get out of here!" He tried pushing the middle bars open, but he couldn't.

"SuperTed!" cried one of the kids in his cell. "I've found something that might help you."  
>The teddy bear turned to see the kids pulling up wooden planks from the floor. SuperTed went to have a look.<p>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, poor Spotty was on the other end of the plank. He looked down and saw three sharks in the sea waiting to eat him.<p>

"Go on! Jump!" ordered Blackbeard.

Spotty gulped and hesitated. An impatient Blackbeard kicked the plank further and Spotty and the plank fell over. Soon Spotty was about to be a starter for the sharks… not! Something picked him up. Spotty saw it was his best friend… in his scarlet suit and flying.

"Thank you, SuperTed," Spotty sighed happily.

"It's not over yet, Spotty," said the teddy bear.

They flew down to the cells. SuperTed put his friend down and he used all his strength to push the bars of each cell open enough for everyone to walk out.

"Let's go out there and show those yellow-bellied pirates what we're made off!" cried Tex.

"I didn't know pirates had yellow bellies, Tex," said Bulk.

"What are we made off?" asked Skeleton.

"Let's go and scare those nervous pirates away!" Tex said.

And they all went out and fought the pirates with swords. And they were winning!

"This is better than using the control sticks!" exclaimed a happy kid.

Soon the pirates were tied to the big mast and the good guys were searching the ship. They found plenty of gold and rubies and diamonds, but none of the diamonds could fit the slot which was on a big wooden cupboard in the smug kitchen.

"Does anyone notice that Blackbeard is missing?" asked SuperTed. Then he heard rowing away from the boat. He flew up and saw that Blackbeard in a lifeboat was rowing away and, on his beard, it had the diamond SuperTed and his friends need to get to the next level.

He dived into the sea.

* * *

><p>Blackbeard was rowing as hard as he could.<p>

"I'm not letting those scurry losers take my favourite diamond," he said to himself. "They can have the rest of the treasure, but this baby is all mine!"

He wouldn't stop rowing until he decided he was too tired to continue. When he let go of the oars, he felt relaxed like he got away enough. Then he felt he had hit land. He turned around to see that he had not hit land, but more like his own ship. SuperTed appeared from under the lifeboat and flew to Blackbeard. "I'll take that!" SuperTed smiled, as he snatched the diamond off.

Soon, Blackbeard joined his crew in ropes. SuperTed and his friends walked back to the kitchen and inserted the diamond into the slot. The doors of the cupboard opened and the portal was ready for them.

"Let's go!" cried SuperTed.

"Aye aye, SuperTed!" cried everyone as they followed him through.

* * *

><p>SuperTed and his friends found themselves in a backstreet alley. The teddy bear turned around to see where the portal was. It was now the back of a deserted building.<p>

They walked out of the alley and found themselves in a big city.

"This looks like New York," said Spotty.

"It is, Spotty," said SuperTed. "During the Great Depression."

"But how are we ever going to get the diamond to get us to the next level in this?" Skeleton asked.

Then an explosion and a bank alarm could be heard. They ran to the The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and saw gangsters running out. They all got into their van.

"Maybe the diamond is in one of those stolen money bags!" thought SuperTed. "Come on!" They all started to run after it, but the bad guys' van drove off.

"How are we going to catch them now?" asked Bulk.

"Look!" cried one of the kids, pointing to a large double-decker bus which was for sale. They ran to the man who was standing next to the bus.

"How much for this bus, sir?" asked Skeleton.

"About $50," said the man.

Everyone checked their pockets, but no one had any money at all. Then one girl with long blonde hair gave the man the fifty dollars the man wanted. Everyone got on the bus, except SuperTed who took the girl to the corner.

"Where did you get the money?" asked the teddy bear.

"The bank exploded and there were dollar bills flying on the steps," replied the girl. "You have to collect money that's been lying on the ground and to buy some of the gear you need. That's how video games work. But I wouldn't do this in real life."

"As long as you can tell from fiction to fact, that's all right," smiled SuperTed.

Then they noticed that Tex was not on the bus.

"Why aren't you on the bus, Tex?" asked SuperTed.

"I can't help you," Tex sighed.

"Why?" asked SuperTed. "Don't you want to be free from this game?"

"I can't explain! I just can't help you!" Tex shouted nervously. "Go on and get out of the game without me. I feel like I deserve to be trapped on this pathetic, gloomy level."

SuperTed didn't understand what was going on, but time was running out. "All right. Suit yourself," he said as he and the girl got on the bus.

* * *

><p>Bulk was in the driver's seat.<p>

"You do know how to drive a bus, don't you, Bulk?" asked Skeleton, who sat opposite to him.

"Yep, I think it will easy enough," replied Bulk. Then he looked at the gears. "Which one of these starts the engine?" He fiddled with the gear stick. "It's not working!"

"Try the keys, Bulk," muttered Skeleton.

"Yeah!" cried Bulk. "Why didn't I think of that?" He turned the keys and the engine started. He fiddled with the gear stick and it took off… backwards!

"By the bald birds of Spot!" cried Spotty.

"STOP!" shouted Skeleton. Bulk managed to find the brake and stop it. "Drive forwards!" ordered Skeleton.

Bulk finally managed to make the bus go forward but it was dangerous driving not only for Bulk and his friends, but the whole of New York. Bulk's dangerous driving caused citizens to run away, bins flying around, street lights falling down and other vehicles nearly to crash into buildings.

"Another thing you're allowed to do in a video game but not in the real world is dangerous driving," pointed out the blonde girl who sat next to SuperTed. "It's not as good as I always thought playing it, though."

This continued for a long while until the bus came to a stop in a dark alley.

"Why aren't we moving?" asked Bulk.

SuperTed walked past the shaken-up Spotty and children to where Bulk was. He looked at the gas tank.

"We're just out of gas," said SuperTed.

"Gas?" Spotty sniffed the air. "I can't smell anything."  
>"No, that's what the Americans call petrol: gas," SuperTed told him.<p>

"I thought Americans spoke English," thought Spotty.

"Never mind, Spotty!" sighed SuperTed. "We must find these criminals to find the diamond."  
>"And they'll be right in front of us," cried a black-hair girl with sunglasses.<p>

They got off the bus and saw they were outside a closed-down bakery.

"It's just a broken-down bakery," pointed out Spotty. He turned to the kid. "What makes you think they'll be in there?"

The girl pointed to the vehicle that was hanging out next to the bus.

"That's the criminals' vehicle, all right," said SuperTed, as he checked it. Then he turned to the bakery. "So they must be in there. Now I'll go and check. Spotty, Bulk, Skeleton, make sure these kids stay out here, no matter what. These levels get tougher and tougher."

"Will do," replied Spotty, Bulk and Skeleton together.

* * *

><p>SuperTed avoided the big door as it was really locked tight and didn't want to make any noise as he was to enter the building. So he decided to see if there were any windows open and luckily there was one. He climbed through quietly as a mouse. He walked quietly and slowly as a tortoise, as he passed through the dead machines. He saw the criminals and hid behind one. He peered around the corner to see the criminals counting all the money they had.<p>

"We have a million dollars!" cried one.

"We'll rich! Rich! Richer than the President!" cried another.

A throat clearing came from across the room. A man was on top of the stairs and he looked like very much Texas Pete, only in a white suit and a white hat. He walked down.

"I meant _you're_ rich, Mr. Manhattan Pete, sir," the nervous criminal corrected himself. "_You're_ rich."

Manhattan Pete walked to the counted money and inspected it.

"$1,000,000, preciously?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," replied the men.

They saw that their boss still wasn't happy.

"What's the trouble, Manny?" asked one.

"Trouble?" Manny laughed. "No trouble. We have robbed every bank and you brought me every dollar, every coin to me and we still haven't found my family's precious diamond that has been put away in a bank in this very city over a hundred years ago!"

"But we emptied the cash registers and the safe vaults out ourselves…" SuperTed heard Manny and his men protesting and shouting with each other. He looked around to see what he could do and then he saw just what he need – the tiny crystal-clear diamond that was just on the other side of him. He crawled quietly on the floor and picked up the diamond, but then his paw was stamped on by a black shoe.

The teddy bear screamed as he looked up to see Manny Pete above him. "Hello, teddy bear," he grinned nastily.

"Hey, boss!" cried one of the men. "He ain't on his own!"

They saw a bunch of men holding Spotty, Bulk, Skeleton and all the kids hostage.

"Give me the diamond or every one of your friends will get hurt, starting with the yellow one," warned Manny, clicking his fingers.

One of his men held a gun at Spotty's head.

"One…" counted Manny.

SuperTed looked at Spotty and then at the diamond.

"Two…" counted Manny.

SuperTed tried to think of another way, but he couldn't.

"Three!" finished Manny.

"Okay, Manny," sighed SuperTed, giving him the diamond. "It's yours."

"Thank you," smiled Manny evilly. "But don't think that has saved your life or the lives of your friends."

"But this will!" cried a voice similar to Manny's. Everyone looked at the big door which was now broken down and there stood the whole New York Police with Texas Pete.

* * *

><p>Soon Manny and his army of criminals were taken away. They also collected every penny to be taken back to the banks. But, luckily, Manny's diamond fell out of the money collection and Bulk picked it up.<p>

While everyone else was looking for the slot, SuperTed walked to Tex. "So, Tex, what made you change your mind?" asked the teddy bear.

"You see, SuperTed, Manhattan Pete is my father," replied Tex. "I must have taken after him and that must be why I became the criminal I am today. That's why I didn't want to join you, but then as I am now changed, I went to the Police and decided to obey the law for a change."

"Well, I know it's been hard for you, but you did the right thing," smiled SuperTed, "and, because of that, when we get out of this game, I'll let you and your friends go free."

"Found it, Tex!" called Bulk. Bulk put the diamond in the slot, which was the replacement of the keyhole of a giant bank vault that was left. The vault opened itself and everyone went through to the portal.

* * *

><p>The next level made Spotty felt more like at home. He, SuperTed and the children were in his Spotty Rocket in space.<p>

"SuperTed!" cried Spotty. "We're in my rocket ship! And we're in space! We must be out of the game!"  
>"I don't think so, Spotty," said SuperTed. "We have another level to go after this one."<p>

"But what's the mission here?" asked a blonde girl.

"I think it's that," pointed out her sister.

Everyone looked out through the cockpit window and they saw asteroids falling towards the planet Earth!

"By the bald birds of Spot!" cried Spotty. "How are we going to stop those asteroids?"

"If we had guns," thought SuperTed, "we could shoot them into dust before they hit Earth. But your rocket isn't that kind of rocket."

"It is on this game," shouted one of the tough kids, who were at the back of the rocket. SuperTed turned to see some of the kids sitting on the seats. In front of them were the controls for the guns that were hanging outside on the ship.

"Texas Pete's Rocket calling the Spotty Rocket," said a cowboy voice on the radio. "Are you there? Over."

SuperTed picked up the receiver. "Spotty Rocket receiving you loud and clear. Where are you? Over."

"We are near Mars," reported Tex's voice. "We must make that there are no more asteroids coming near Earth. So go and blow those dusty space rocks before it destroys our home!"

* * *

><p>Outside the Spotty Rocket set off to help the Earth. But little did anyone on that ship knew that about a whole space mile away was Texas Pete's rocket.<p>

"Steady, boys," smiled Tex evilly. "When they've done their job, we'll give them what for."  
>"Yeah," smiled Bulk. "Uh, what will we give them, Tex?"<p>

"Oh, you'll see," he grinned.

"Oh, Tex, you're so cruel!" grinned Skeleton.

* * *

><p>The Spotty Rocket was having an asteroid field of success. It was patrolling all around the Earth and was shooting at every single asteroid. They were going out one by one. Very soon, there was not a single bit of asteroid left in sight.<p>

"But how are we suppose to get to the next level if we can't find the diamond?" asked SuperTed.

"I've found one more asteroid, SuperTed," reported one strong boy who had blonde hair. "But it's not coming towards us. It's floating away."

SuperTed looked out into the front screen and saw the kid was right. And he could see something shiny on it.

"There's something in that asteroid, Spotty," said the heroic teddy bear. "Let's go."

"What?" exclaimed the spotted alien. "Where?"

"It could be the diamond," SuperTed told his best friend.

"Hold on, everyone!" Spotty said to his crewmates.

The Spotty Rocket charged for the asteroid. SuperTed could see in the windscreen that the diamond_ was_ in the asteroid.

"Keep going, Spotty!" encouraged SuperTed. "We're nearly there."

They were getting closer and closer. SuperTed went to the hatch and opened it.

"Get as close as you can so I can reach it, Spotty!" SuperTed cried to his best friend.

"Right-o!" Spotty reported.

The diamond on the asteroid was in SuperTed's sight and reach. He went to grab it, but then the whole rocket jerked and SuperTed fell back. The whole rocket was falling down.

"What happened, Spotty?" snapped SuperTed.

"I don't know!" cried Spotty. "Everything was running smoothly and then the engines went burst! I don't know how!"

SuperTed looked ahead through hatch he was just hanging out of and saw Texas Pete's Rocket near the asteroid and Tex, Bulk and Skeleton in their space suits floating towards it.

"Tex has betrayed us!" shouted one of the kids.

"No," said SuperTed. "Tex has been playing with us all this time."  
>"He didn't have any toys," Spotty said.<p>

"No, Spotty, I meant he tricked us all this time by pretending he was a changed man just so he could get out of the levels and leave us here," SuperTed said.

"And now he has sent us to a black hole!" cried Spotty. "And I can't move the rocket away!"

SuperTed ran to the front to see that they _were_ heading for the black hole.

"What will we do, SuperTed?" asked the children.

"Hang on! We just hang on!" SuperTed told everyone. And they all did.

"I just hope that there's something on the other side, if there _is_ another side," the teddy bear said, as the whole rocket went through.

_Will we see our heroes again? Has Texas Pete finally won? Find out in the final part of the mini-series._

To Be Concluded…


	5. Part Five

_Just when things were going so well, including SuperTed's partnership with Texas Pete, our hero has discovered that his new friend has betrayed him and has sent him and the missing children through a black hole. Will we ever see them again?_

Everyone was holding onto their dear lives as the rocket was shaking back and forth through the black hole. Spotty did his best to hold the controls, but they had ideas of their own. They exploded and he fell back.

Through the front screen, SuperTed could see something light ahead. "We're coming out of the black hole! Brace yourselves, everyone!" he ordered.

"But I have good teeth," protested Spotty.

"No, Spotty," said the teddy bear, "get ready for impact!"

Everyone did as the rocket ventured forth to the light. Through the light, nobody could see anything, but they felt as if they had hit rollercoaster tracks and were riding down and then fell off and landed next to it roughly.

Everyone got out of the rocket to see that they did exactly that. They saw that they were in an abandoned theme park in a sandy desert.

"Ah!" screamed Spotty. "Look at my lovely rocket! It's smoking!"

"This is just the rocket in the game, Spotty," his best friend assured him. "Your real rocket is in the real world safe and sound. Just one more level to go and we'll get to it quickly and safely."

"But this is the last level and all final levels are the toughest," pointed out a black girl with sunglasses.

"And we're still at ninety," pointed out another kid. "We need to find the last ten."  
>"And defeat the final boss," joined in a third kid.<p>

"Well, we don't have to worry about finding him," said the second kid, looking up to the sky. "Because he's here."

Everyone looked up to see a giant alien U.F.O. ship hovering above them.

"I wonder where Tex is," thought Spotty.

The hatch of the front window of the U.F.O. ship opened and it revealed Texas Pete behind the controls, with Bulk and Skeleton.

"I would've thanked you, SuperTed, for getting me through this level," said the evil cowboy through the loud speaker he was holding down, "but thanks to my brilliant ideas of tricking you into helping me, I have nothing to thank for." He laughed evilly as he put the speaker away. Then guns appeared out of the U.F.O. and started shooting at them.

"Let's hide in the park!" suggested Spotty.

"No, Spotty, we need to get out of this park and find somewhere we can defeat Tex!" SuperTed shouted through the shooting.

"Look!" one of the kids cried out, pointing to a yellow bus. "Let's get onboard!"

Everyone did.

"You drive, Spotty," said SuperTed.

"But I don't know how to drive," protested Spotty as he sat down on the driver's seat.

"Just turn the key," SuperTed told him. Spotty did and the engine started. "Now put your foot down on the right pedal," SuperTed said. Spotty did and it took off.

* * *

><p>The road was straight through the desert, but even that didn't help Spotty's poor bus driving. His driving was so shaky and bumpy that the kids even preferred Bulk's driving. At the back, SuperTed looked through the back window and saw the U.F.O. was still catching up to them and firing at them.<p>

"Keep going, Spotty!" SuperTed encouraged. "We'll lose them soon."

"Well, we'd better because we're running out of gas!" Spotty shouted back to him.

"Look!" cried one of the kids, pointing straight ahead. "There's a building over there! Head for there, Spotty!"

Spotty speeded up, heading for the building ahead. But the shooting from the U.F.O. nearly hit the bus and that caused the scared spotty alien to drive off the road and continue through the sand.

"Get this bus back on the road, Spotty!" shouted SuperTed.

"I'm trying, SuperTed," cried a panicking Spotty, "but it's getting stuck in the sand!"

SuperTed opened the window to have a closer look. Then the bus hit something big and that sent the teddy bear out of the bus.

Outside, SuperTed was rolling in the desert. He stopped on a giant rock. It was buried deep in the sand with only four feet of it showing on the sand. He picked himself up and saw something on the surface of the rock.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the bus had completely stopped. Spotty couldn't get it to move and he couldn't think of any ideas. Not even the getting-closer fire beams from the U.F.O. could make him think.<p>

He decided to try to move the bus one last time and it did this time. It was dodging the laser beams and moving very fast away from the U.F.O.

It stopped at the building. The kids got out and congratulate Spotty.

"I don't know how I did it," said Spotty.

"You had some help," said a figure in a scarlet suit crawling out from underneath the bus.

"SuperTed!" cried the children.

"Was it you?" asked Spotty. "Did you fly the bus for us?"  
>"Yep," replied the flying teddy bear.<p>

Then the laser beams had nearly caught up to them.

"Everyone, in the building!" yelled SuperTed. They all ran inside.

* * *

><p>It was dark, empty, gloomy and dusty inside.<p>

"I don't like this one bit, SuperTed," moaned Spotty. "This looks like some sort of laboratory."

"That's because it _is_ a laboratory, Spotty," said a boy with scruffy black hair and big glasses. "This is probably Area 51."  
>"Area 51?" Spotty was confused. "What about the other fifty areas?"<p>

"This is the name of the famous alien research station, Spotty," SuperTed told him. "But there's not even a laboratory glass in here. So how can we defeat the U.F.O.?"

BANG! BANG! Everyone stopped as they heard the banging.

"What was that?" asked Spotty.

BANG! BANG! SuperTedv was looking at about ten metal lockers. "Let's go and check these lockers, guys," he said. He walked to the first one on the left and opened it. He was surprised, yet happy to find one of the missing children in the locker. Spotty and eight more brave children each opened a locker and found the last nine missing children.

"One hundred missing children – all found!" SuperTed shouted happily.

"SuperTed!" called one of the kids, looking into the metal lockers. "I found something that's not much use to us, but very helpful to you."

Then the room began to shake and rumble. "Tex is coming for us," whispered the teddy bear. He then turned to Spotty. "Keep an eye out on the U.F.O., Spotty," he ordered as he ran to the locker.

"U.F.O.?" spluttered Spotty. Then his worst worry came true: The U.F.O. was hovering in front of him. Spotty led the kids to run away from the U.F.O., but all they got to was a wall, where the . had them trapped with its laser guns.

* * *

><p>In the bright and colourful cockpit of the U.F.O., an evil-laughing Tex was holding the trigger, with Bulk and Skeleton behind him. Then the clumsy duo banged heads together and fell down. Tex stopped what he was doing and behind him he saw SuperTed in his scarlet suit angrily walking towards him.<p>

"You created this game, didn't you, Tex?" said the angry teddy bear. "You trapped these kids into this game and then you programmed the main computer to trap me and Spotty."

Tex was scared and he was crawling backwards on the floor. "But the computer sent me into the game as well, you know. And – "

"You made it sent you into the game so you would look weak and pathetic and make me feel sorry for you and make me think you've changed! You could've come out of the game anytime, but you just wanted to make sure you could get rid of me and Spotty!"

"All right, no more lies," said Tex. "And speaking of which, I've got a present for ya!" He got out his lasso rope and he threw it to the teddy bear who caught it and tied the evil cowboy with his two henchmen together.

Then SuperTed went to the controls and pressed a green button. Spotty and all the children were now on the U.F.O.

"Cool teleportation!" cried the excited children.

"Let's go home, everyone!" said SuperTed.

All the kids cheered.

"But how can we do that, SuperTed?" asked Spotty.

"Just by pressing this yellow button, Spotty," smiled SuperTed, as he pressed it. The U.F.O. zoomed out of the laboratory, out of the earth, into space and to a big white shining star in the distance.

"Why are we here?" asked the children.

"We're at the end of the universe," replied SuperTed. "It might be the only way to get out of this game."

They went through to the big star and whiteness took over all. Then everything went clear again and SuperTed, Spotty, the children and the villains, who were still tied up, were back in the room in the building before SuperTed and Spotty were sent into the game.

"Finished already?" asked the computer's voice. "But there's more to play!"

"Not for us!" shouted SuperTed, as he flew over the computer and unplugged it from the wall. The power went down.

* * *

><p>The people outside the Grapes Industries building were still waiting. Then their waiting had finally paid off when they saw their kids running towards them and hugging them.<p>

The Mayor hugged his son and daughter and walked to SuperTed and Spotty who were bringing out Texas Pete and his gang.

"Officers, take the bad guys away and lock them up," the Mayor ordered. The Police Officers took them from SuperTed and Spotty.

"Thank you very much, SuperTed and Spottyman," praised the Mayor, shaking both their hands.

"Yeah, thank you, SuperTed and Spotty," said the Mayor's kids.

"And for doing so quickly, too," added the mayor. "Under two hours. No video game players ever finished a game _that_ quickly."

"Under two hours?" asked Spotty. "It felt like we were in the game for weeks."

"That's what happens to you when you're in the game, Spotty," said SuperTed. "It does things to your mind without you knowing it."

All the children expressed their thanks to the duo for saving them.

"Just doing our job, weren't we, Spotty?" SuperTed kept on saying.

"Yeah, it was nothing," Spotty kept on agreeing.

"Come on, Spotty, let's celebrate with an ice cream," smiled SuperTed as they walked away from Grape Industries.

* * *

><p><em>Many days later, Texas Pete, son of Manhattan Pete, and his minions Bulk and Skeleton are back behind bars. And thanks to them and the awful video game experience they had, not just the missing children who have now been found, but almost every child in the world is off the video games and television and out in the fresh with their families, friends and dogs. No one has the video game fever now.<em>

Hovering above the Earth was SuperTed's space station. The teddy bear walked out of his room and through the corridor. "Spotty? Where are you? Spotty?"

There was no reply, but there was video game sounds nearby. SuperTed followed the sounds and he saw Spotty playing a video game! From the Planet Spot.

"Spotty, what are you doing?" asked the teddy bear.

"I don't know," replied Spotty. "I used to hate video games, but that being-trapped-in-a-video-game experience made feel like I can do a lot better now. Plus I've been missing the Planet Spot, so that's why I'm playing this game and I'm winning!"

"Oh, Spotty!" laughed SuperTed. "What am I going do with you?"

* * *

><p><span>THE END<span>

Written by Bobby South

_SuperTed _created by Mike Young


End file.
